


Unreasonable Behaviour

by NinetyNineGhosts



Category: Ghost - Mystery Skulls (Music Video), Mystery Skulls Animated, OFF (Game)
Genre: Canon Divergence, I mean it's OFF, OFF Spoilers, some disturbing content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2016-05-20
Packaged: 2018-04-08 03:43:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4289463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinetyNineGhosts/pseuds/NinetyNineGhosts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vivi, Lewis, and Arthur had came to the old mine in order to investigate the odd noises. They had not expected to meet The Batter. </p>
<p>They had not expected to lose Arthur in the process, either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Peper Steak

**Author's Note:**

> This was just an idea that popped in my head when I started wondering about an OFF/MSA Ghost crossover! I hope you enjoy it and I'll be trying to update regularly!

"Vivi, I really don't like this."

 

"Oh come on, you big baby! It's just an old mine, and even more, it's just some weird noises we're looking into!"

 

"...Fine." The blonde mechanic whined, cautiously stepping out of the van alongside the bluenette and her dog. Their violet-haired ghosty boyfriend, Lewis, had already gone a few steps ahead just to see if it was safe.

 

The group, better known as the Mystery Skulls, were investigating a rather spooky abandoned mine that was reported to have been emitting rather spooky sounds. Vivi had practically begged her boys to come with her to see what was going on. After all, a paranormal investigator can never dismiss a good mystery, right?

 

Vivi took the lead as soon as Lewis confirmed there wasn't anything extremely lethal in that part of the mine. She confidently strode across the ground, carrying with her a flashlight and a bag full of little things like books, herbs, artifacts, and newspaper clippings. The bluenette was ready to face anything. A spooky mine was the perfect way to start off the month! What could go wrong? After all, they were professionals.

 

Arthur, on the other hand, trailed behind Lewis, dragging his feet a bit and anxiously glancing around. He didn't particularly like most of the places his significant others took him to. They were always haunted or creepy and he was always the one getting kidnapped or possessed or put in some form of distress. The blonde worriedly crossed his arms, feeling the cold metal of his robotic arm press against the flesh of his human one. 

 

Lewis cautiously kept watch from the middle, letting Vivi take the lead but still checking everywhere he could for danger. You could never be too safe, after all. The abandoned mine was probably one of the more dangerous places they investigated, purely because of the awful decaying architecture and possibility of collapsing at any moment. How Vivi managed to get them legal access to this....Well, on second thought, it was best to not question her methods. And whether what they did was legal or not. 

 

Mystery pawed along next to Vivi, nose pressed to the ground. Like any other 'normal' dog, he was sniffing for trouble. Or clues. Or a snack! Snacks are always good. If the group was lucky they could find all three. Although in a place like this, food was not a common occurrence. But, of course, one could never now until they found something.

 

It wasn't long before the group came across a split; a fork dividing the one path into two.

 

"Well, gang!" Vivi said, rubbing her hands together excitedly. "I say Lewis and me take this route, and Arthur and Mystery take the other!" She had been doing her best to shake up the groups for when they needed to split up so nobody felt left out. Arthur said nothing, but nodded slowly and turned to walk into dark cavern before him. He didn't like it much, but he wasn't going to complain. He knew that Lewis didn't feel comfortable with Vivi accompanying the blonde, and he also knew that Lewis probably wouldn't ever want to accompany him again. Not since The Incident.

 

And so the one group of four split into two groups of two, and they headed off in search of adventure (and in Mystery's case, maybe some food.)

 

~

 

"Lewis, look!" Vivi helped. 

 

The ghost turned to look. Vivi had, from out of her bag, taken her handy-dandy 'Specter Detector' out and was looking at the screen. She had made the contraption a year ago, with a violin tuner and some ectoplasm. 

 

It was made for the green button to flash when ghostly activity was detected in the area. 

 

It was flashing something awful.

 

Naturally, it seemed to flash in the direction of another tunnel. One that clearly led deeper into the mine. 

 

"Come on, Lewis! We're getting close to the ghosts!"

 

"Are you sure it's not just going off because I'm here?"

 

"No, I worked with Arthur to make it not detect you! Come on!"

 

"...Alright, but we need to be careful, okay?"

 

"Fiiiiiine, whatever dude!"

 

And with that, the bluenette and the purple-pompadour'd phantasm vanish into the darkness of the cavern.

 

~ 

 

"Hey, Mystery."

 

"Yes, Arthur?"

 

"What do you think we're going up against here? You smelling anything?"

 

"At the moment, I'm smelling Doritos. But I am about 87% sure that's just because you're here."

 

"Haha. Hahaha. Very funny. Seriously, dude. I'm not getting a good vibe here."

 

"You hardly ever get good vibes, Arthur."

 

"Mystery, c'mon! I'm serious!"

 

"As am I. You needn't worry, Arthur, there's nothing that off in this mine."

 

".....Fine, sure. Whatever you say. But if something happens -"

 

"If something happens, you can have Mr. Houdini for a week, okay?"

 

Arthur had to smile a bit at that. Mr. Houdini was a stuffed duck that Vivi had gotten for Mystery to chew on. However, the dog had always taken more of an interest in just snuggling with it than actually chewing it. Chewing food was much more satisfying. Eventually, the whole gang had discovered just how soft and fluffy and huggable Mr. Houdini was, and soon enough getting a chance to snuggle with the duck was like winning the lottery. However, Arthur wasn't sure that even a week of soft fluff would be enough to cover what he may or may not experience in this forsaken mine shaft.

He turned a corner without thinking, heading deeper into the mine. 

~

It wasn't long before Vivi found something. A wall. The mine shaft led into another cavern, but there was surprisingly flat, smooth wall with a very suspicious three rings panted on it.

 

"Lewis, look at that!"

 

"I'm looking, Vivi. Do you think this has anything to do with the weird noises? I don't recall any kind of runes or sigil like this."

 

"Well, you never know. We need to check this out, maybe perform an exorcism on the mine!"

 

"Vivi, we're not performing an exorcism on the entire mine."

 

The bluenette huffed angrily, puffing out her cheeks and sticking out her lip. 

 

"You're no fun, Lew!"

 

And with that, a certain blonde-haired mechanic and a certain normal canine friend came in through the other cavern.

 

"Well, whaddya know..." Arthur said, raising an eyebrow. "What the heck are those mark supposed to be? Some kind of demon summoning smell??" 

 

"Calm down, Arthur. It certainly isn't a demon-summoning spell." Mystery assured him. "Although to be quite honest, I've not a clue what that thing is supposed to be. Perhaps a rune gone wrong? Anyways, we should probably try to simply erase it."

 

"How are we gonna do that?" Vivi inquired, adjusting her glasses as she flipped through one of her books.

 

"I'm not sure." Mystery said. "Rubbing it? Washing it? Maybe washing will work. Did anyone bring a hose into this dark abandoned mine?"

 

Arthur frowned as he took a step towards the symbols. They were odd, extremely odd, yet somehow welcoming. He placed a hand in the center of the ring in the middle. His flesh hand. He brought it down to see if he could rub off whatever was forming the design.

 

The minute his hand hit the material forming the rings they began to glow.

 

"Arthur, what did you do??" Lewis yelped, cautiously pulling Vivi and Mystery close. Arthur didn't answer. He was frozen, staring at the intense light that continued to grow in brightness until it was practically blinding.

 

The trio (Lewis, Vivi, and Mystery) shielded their eyes from the light. They heard a scream of terror and then a thump, like wood hitting a dirt floor.

 

The light died down, and Vivi was the first to open her eyes.

 

Arthur was nowhere to be seen. The symbols were gone, it looked as if they were burned off the wall.

 

Standing where their friend once stood was a tall, slightly lanky, almost completely monochromatic....baseball player. His hat cast a strange shade that covered his eyes, and he appeared to wearing the uniform of a 1920s'  baseball player.

 

"I am the Batter." The figure said, gripping his wooden bat as he looked around the mine. "I am here to purify this world." 


	2. Hellbent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur finds himself in a world that could best be described as simply....Off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, Chapter Two! I apologoze for how short it is compared to the first one, the chapters are gonna have fluctuating lengths.

When Arthur awoke, he saw yellow. Yellow and white. What an odd color scheme. This didn't look like the mines....Didn't really feel like the mines either. He could hear water splashing, although it didn't exactly sound like water....The floor was smooth, smoother and harder than the dirt floor of where he previously was. Which of course meant it hurt more, because he had just fallen on it headfirst.

 

"Ow..." He muttered, rubbing his head and looking around. "What...Where...Where am...Where's Vivi? Lewis? Mystery?!" 

 

The mechanic quickly brought himself to his feet, looking around in a panic. "Guys?!"

 

"Quit screaming,  _amigo._ " An unfamiliar voice said. Arthur turned to face a slightly shorter and rather chubby man wearing a...cat mask? Weird.  _  
_

 

"Who...are you?" Arthur asked. 

 

"Well, I suppose that I am your Guide. After all, you seem to need one." The man in the mask let out a chuckle before following it up with a quick 'maiou'. Arthur noticed that the flesh his neck appeared lumpy and deformed, like that of a toad's. The mechanic nervously shifted, crossing his arms and holding them close. 

 

"Where am I?" He asked, looking at this unfamiliar land. He didn't much like this. 

 

"Why, you're in Zone 0, amigo." The Guide replied, chuckling again. "The only Zone not left purified by The Batter." 

 

"The...Batter?" Arthur repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Who's - Who's that?"

 

"He was a strange figure who entered our world only to destroy it. Well, most of it. Even after he pulled the switch, Zone 0 stayed intact and light. Must be a video game thing" 

 

"I don't understand." Arthur frowned. This was indeed rather confusing for him. Pulled the switch? Destroying the world? Video game thing? Those were things that did not make sense at all when smashed together and thrown in with this strange mask-wearing toadlike Guide.

 

"Let's just start with your name,  _amigo_." The Guide replied. "Who are you?"

 

"I-I'm Arthur." The mechanic replied. "Arthur Kingsmen."

 

"Oh, but that's just your name." The Guide said, shaking his mask-covered head. "Who are you?"

 

"Arthur." Arthur replied, frowning. "I just told you my name's Arthur."

 

"Well, that's your name. But that isn't who you are, is it? You may be named Arthur, but what are you really?"

 

Arthur looked down, not knowing how to answer a question like that. He looked up at the sky then, staring at the whiteness that started to hurt at his eyes. He then look at his hands. 

 

"Well, I'm a mechanic," Arthur eventually said, hoping this strange toad man would accept this as an answer. "I fix things. A-And I build things, too."

 

"You build things?" The Guide asked, a hint of interest suddenly appearing in his voice. "You _fix_ things?"

 

"Yeah," Arthur replied. "Like broken cars. I fix those up. A-And I built my arm and-"

 

"Perhaps you are to fix our world, Mechanic." The Guide interrupted him. "After all, why else would you be here?"


	3. Fourteen Residents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vivi, Mystery, and Lewis have some problems during their first encounter with The Batter.

The Batter was an odd man, of a lanky build and almost no color. He gripped a bat like it was the end of the world, and appeared to have no eyes under his cap. He glanced around with a blank face before staring at the group before him.

 

"Specter." He hissed, pointing his bat at Lewis. 

 

Lewis took a step back. Clearly this man wasn't going to be friendly. Vivi, fortunately, rushed in between the two, waving her arms wildly.

 

"Woah, fellas!" She yelped. "Let's not do any bat-ghost-purifying today!" She grabbed the aforementioned bat, but rather than yanking it out of the Batter's hands like one might have expected, the investigator simply pushed it downwards so the strange baseball player had it resting at his side. 

 

Lewis and The Batter stared at each other for a while before the bluenette broke the silence. 

 

"What's going on?? Where did you come from, Batter-dude?? And what do you mean by 'purify'?"

 

The Batter looked down at Vivi. "I have come to this world in order to rid it of the specters that plague it."

 

"O-kay. Here's the thing: This specter is a NICE one. He's not plaguing it."

 

"..." The man looked stumped, as if the concept of a nice ghost was new to him. "How can you tell?" He finally asked.

 

"Because he hasn't attacked any of us, really." It was sort of a lie, although Vivi didn't really count The Mansion Incident as an attack, really. "I mean, and I'm dating him."

 

"Dating?" 

 

"You don't know what dating is?"

 

"No."

 

"Huh." Vivi exchanged an odd glance with Lewis and Mystery. "Where are you from, dude?"

 

"....."

 

"You don't know?"

 

"I don't."

 

"You don't seem to know a lot of things, dude." Vivi walked away from the baseball player in order to investigate the burned wall that once had strange markings. This proved to be a mistake.

 

She heard a crack, and cry, and a yelp and quickly turned to find The Batter, struggling with Mystery biting his shoulder as Lewis rubbed at his skull. His bat was on the floor, smoking a bit with pink-tinted smoke as if it had collided with pink fire.

 

"Mystery!" She cried, running up to them and pulling her dog off the man. "What the Hell's going on?!" 

 

"With all due respects, Vivi." Mystery panted. "This Batter figure attacked Lewis!" 

 

Lewis picked up the bat with one hand and snapped it half, towering over the Batter with rage in his eyes. 

 

Vivi, fortunately, shoved herself in the middle of the two again. 

 

"I turn my back for barely a  _second_ and people start trying to kill each other!" She exclaimed in a stern voice. Lewis sputtered.

 

"He started it!" The 8-foot-tall fire ghost whined, pointing to the Batter. Vivi raised an eyebrow at the sudden childish display. "Er...I mean...He tried to bat my head off, Viv!"

 

"Well, he doesn't have a bat anymore now. Mystery!" She looked over to her dog, who looked up at her as if awaiting instructions. "You and Lewis go back to the van." Mystery nodded. The canine and the specter eventually vanished into the darkness of the mine. 

 

Vivi sighed, sat down, and pulled out another book as the odd baseball player stared almost forlornly at the remains of his baseball bat. 

 

This was going to be a long night.

 

 


	4. Paralyzed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur needs some time to adjust to this new world. Unfortunately, time is something he doesn't seem to have on him at the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and reviews, fellas! It's great to know people like my works!!

"Come on. I'm sure that a red box isn't that terrifying. Can you go any faster?" The Guide stood next to a floating crimson cube and appeared rather impatient. Arthur, who had been trailing behind for a while to take everything in, was cautious in approaching the unfamiliar object. 

 

"Um...what does it do?" The mechanic asked, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. 

 

"Why, dear Mechanic, it will take you to other Zones. Although of course, you need a card to do use it. Here, since the chances are you have no credits, I'll give this one to you for free." Arthur had to notice that in the time it took to switch from explaining the box to talking about money, his Guide had switched his cat mask to that of a more...toadlike design.

 

"Um..." Our blonde-haired hero had no clue what to make of this. 

 

"Here." The toad-mask-wearing Guide said, handing Arthur a white card. 

 

"Thanks?" Arthur half-replied, half-asked. 

 

"You're welcome to go back and investigate more of this Zone, dear Mechanic." The Guide murmured, taking time to switch his masks again. "Now that you have the card, you're welcome to enter Zone 1 whenever you wish. Although I do hope it's sometime soon. Fixing our world as soon as you could would be rather nice." 

 

Arthur nodded, but turned to go back and investigate the warehouse some more. He noticed that there was a door The Guide hadn't taken him through, and against his better judgement, he went through it.

 

The door led into a basement filled with what looked and smelled a bit like sugar. At the end of the room, a corpse. Eugh. The mechanic could surprisingly see everything from where he was on the other end. She looked as if someone had bashed her skull in...With a bat. A bat. The Batter.

 

Good God.

 

Had The Batter killed this woman? What else had he done to this world? How much did Arthur Kingsmen need to fix?

 

The blonde wished he knew more. Chances are, his Guide was probably not the most reliable, and this world already seemed so messed up....

 

The man slowly walked closer to the corpse, feeling a lump in his throat. Who was she? Why was she killed? What the Hell was going on?!

 

 _Say goodbye to Zacharie for me._ He suddenly heard. Arthur looked around, his eyes wide with panic. Who...was Zacharie? Who said that?

 

His gaze rested upon the dead body, which was now in front of him. The mechanic couldn't help but notice she looked almost like she was sleeping. A ringing chime, like a bell, rang through the room, and Arthur's eyes shot up a little above the body to see...a ghost. She didn't look like she wanted to hurt him, she actually looked to be very glad to see him. 

 

Arthur was unable to saw anything before the ghost took another form. She had become...a ring. Like one of the rings in the mine. Arthur stuck his arm out, and the ring rippled like water as it got close.

 

Peculiar.

 

The Guide seemed only a little surprised when the mechanic came back to the red box with the ring bouncing after him. 

 

"You seem to have acquired an accomplice,  _amigo._ " He pointed out, motioning towards the ring.

 

"Yeah, I found her in the basement."

 

".....Hm." 

 

Arthur turned away from the masked man in order to check out the red box. He opened it and -

 

Suddenly it was like he was in another world.

 

The floor and all around had an odd flower pattern.

 

The only sources of real light were his ring and various small dots, about 5 in number counting the one he was standing by. Instinctively, he headed towards the closest one. The second his foot hit the light, everything shifted once more.

 

_Now entering Zone 1..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, comments and kudos are ALWAYS appreciated! They give me motivation to work on new chapters and let me know my work isn't in vain! And reviews are always nice!


	5. Fake Orchestra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vivi and The Batter have a little chat in the mines. Meanwhile, Lewis and Mystery make an interesting discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry I haven't updated! See, I've been away from home for quite a bit of time! Hope this chapter can make up for my absence!

"So, Bats. Tell me about yourself. You're here to 'Purify this World' or whatever, but what else is there?" Vivi glanced at the monochromatic man while inspecting the scorch marks on the wall. "Who are you, really?"

 

"I'm the Batter." Was the man's curt response as he knelt to collect the splinters of his bat. "I was sent to this world to defeat the spectres under watchful eye of my Puppeteer." 

 

"Puppeteer?" Vivi asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's interesting, now we're really getting somewhere! Explain to me this Puppeteer business."

 

"They're......." The Batter stopped, looking down as if he didn't know how to answer the question or explain such a being. "They are an entity, of sorts. They guide me through the worlds I am selected to purify and they decide its inevitable outcome." 

 

"Geez, aren't you awfully wordy?" The bluenette asked humorously, raising an eyebrow and grinning. "Do you have a Puppeteer now?"

 

"..."

 

"Batter?"

 

"No. At least, I haven't become aware of them as of yet." The strange man looked down at his hands, which now were full of splinters. "Usually, they are the first person I see when assigned a mission to purify."

 

"Hm...Who was the first person you saw here?" Vivi asked slowly. 

 

"......"

 

"Baaaaaaaaatterrrrrrrr?"

 

"It was you."

 

Vivi raised her other eyebrow. Se had been behind Lewis, but she had been the first the Batter looked at directly. Oh, dear. This meant that she was the one that this Batter figure was identifying as his 'Puppeteer'. This was going to get complicated. Needlessly complicated.

 

"You're trying to say I'M your 'Puppeteer', dude?" She asked, looking rather confused. 

 

"Yes." Was the swift and short response she got. 

 

"Well...Okay, before anything else, let's go back to the van and get the First-Aid kit and fix up your hands. Seriously, dude. Grabbing broken wood isn't the brightest idea. Aaand let's check your shoulder. My dog...has some pretty sharp teeth." A nervous laugh rang out from the blue-haired beauty, as if she was remembering something unpleasant. This, of course, caused the Batter to tilt his head in a bit of confusion. "Never mind, dude." She told him, putting her hand on his good shoulder. 

 

With a hesitant nod, the Batter left his broken bat behind him and accompanied Vivi through the darkness of the tunnels.

 

~~~

 

"I don't like this, Mystery."

 

"Lewis, please. He's just an unnatural monochromatic being possibly from another dimension who attacked you and is now with Vivi in a small and structurally unsound area. What could go wrong?"

 

"You're really not helping, Mystery."

 

The ghost and the kitsune sat upon the hood of the van, it behind quite easy considering Lewis weighed nothing at all and Mystery was the size of a...a dog. The two were staring at the night sky as the dapper phantom shifted a bit. 

 

"It's just....where do you think Arthur went?" 

 

"Well, there are so many alternate worlds and dimensions that it's hard to tell. Honestly, he could be anywhere. Maybe in that lovely San Angel, maybe on that joyous Going Merry. We won't know for sure until we manage to find him."

 

"Well...would you have any suggestions?" Lewis turned to the canine creature alongside him. "On how to get Arthur back. I don't like not knowing where he is, he could be in trouble." 

 

"Hm...Why don't we check the back of the van? Vivi does tend to leave various books back there when her bag is full." 

 

"Good idea." 

 

The duo slipped off the hood and went around the machine towards the back. Lewis pulled open the van doors and a leatherbound book fell at his feet, as if it had been propped against the doors. Lewis bent over and picked it up, looking at the cover. 

 

"It's written in Spanish, I can read it." He informed Mystery, showing the dog the cover. "It's called _'Uriel's Light: Studies on Alternate Worlds and Their Laws'_ "

 

"Sounds awfully boring." Mystery whined, softly stomping a paw onto the ground. 

 

"Well, it could be useful." The ghost noted, flipping through pages before stopping on one with three rings printed behind the ink text. "Mystery. Look!" He yelped, pointing at the page. 

 

"Circles. How peculiar." Mystery yawned before sudden realization. "Oh. What's it say?"

 

"It says that the world has no name, it can only be described as something far from natural or...off. It says that the three rings have to be made with....burned....sugar?Burned sugar. A-And it's full to bursting with malevolent and violent spirits that attack the world's people and hide in every crack."

 

"Sounds awfully pleasant." 

 

"We gotta tell Vivi, Mystery. This page is full of mostly....warnings. Warnings not to go there. It's too dangerous. According to the author, _'It has an atmosphere of sheer insanity that spreads to your very soul and leads you to think the strangest things. Those who journey into this world do not venture out the same person they were before. Do not go to this God forsaken realm. And please, please, please. Do not disturb the spectres.'_ If that doesn't sound horrifying, I don't know what does."

 

"She should be coming out of the mines with that Batter fellow soon. It looked as if she was merely staying behind to investigate a bit, a we both know what a speedster she can be, eh?"

 

Lewis shook his head slowly, sitting in the back of the van and searching page after page, further into the book, in an attempt to learn more. His tries were for naught, however. He accomplished nothing in his search. 

 

"Calm yourself, Lewis. Everything will turn out fine, I'm sure."

 

Everything would not turn out fine. 

 

_Burned sugar..._

 

A malevolent laugh softly and quietly echoed underneath the van, its voice lost in the soft breeze. 

 

_How useful._

 

And with that, the creature eavesdropping on the duo scuttled into the darkness of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember my last end-note: Comments and Kudos are greatly welcomed and encourage me not to slack off writing again! Haha, anyways. The next chapter will be up soon but until then I hope you enjoyed this one~


	6. Soft Breeze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur investigates the odd Zone 1 alongside his new ring-like friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for not updating sooner! School's been killing me!!! Hope you enjoy these next chapters, I'm not letting this fic die now!

"Zone 1 certainly is... _big_." Arthur admitted, slowly sauntering across white ground and viewing white scenery. The strange orb that accompanied him bouncing behind him. "But it's...kind of dark." The zone appeared to be trapped under a black sky, such a shade of black you knew it'd take a rather long time to darken into. The most of the glow came from the orb, which he had decided to name 'Triboluminescence', after a cool video he saw about glowing sugar or something. He couldn't remember all the details, but the name was cool and glowing sugar was cool, so he rolled with it. Of course, that was a long name. He supposed 'Trib' could work for a shorter version.

 

"Wonder what I should do...The Guide dude kept going of about fixing this world, but I have no idea how to. All I have it vague info and this glowing or _b that I'm talking to even though I'm sure it can't respond, way to go_ _Arthur_."

 

Trib only bobbed and glowed in response. 

 

"Hello again, dear Mechanic." The Guide swiftly breathed as he stepped in front of Arthur. "It was rather hard to find you in this dark, friend. Do you now see what becomes of the Purified Zones? I would almost consider us lucky we cannot see the rest of the damage. The first Zone should be easier to fix that the others - I will help you." He turned a bit to face a direction Arthur could not look into, for it was shrouded in darkness.

 

"Um...How am I gonna fix this? How'll you help me?" The blonde inquired, trembling a bit. He never liked the darkness. It reminded him of things.

 

"There are lights for each Zone, my friend. Like lanterns, almost. Light is life. The light created the life, the life brought forth Guardians, and the Guardians acted as engines for the light." Arthur had to internally admit he didn't understand what his Guide was saying. "I believe the light in Zone 1 is underground, where it can't be found easily." 

 

"Wait...underground? How am I gonna get underground, I don't see any stairs or holes or shovels or -"

 

"Turn to the left." The Guide gently grabbed Arthur's shoulders and turned him. "There are stairs down to the mines."

 

"M-Mines?" Arthur remembered the very mines he was in just before...He ended up wherever he was now. "I'm not sure I wanna go down there, dude..."

 

"Relax. You're The Mechanic, it'll work out fine. I'll catch up with you when you need me." A gentle shove led the blonde to stumble and almost fall down the stairs. Trib bobbed along behind him.

 

"Ack!" Arthur yelped, balancing himself quickly to prevent any falls. "Okay, alright. I'll go down the mines, get the lantern thing, and fix it. That's all it is, right?" He turned to face his Guide.

 

His Guide was gone. There was but darkness and faint sounds of clanging metal.

 

"...Right?"


	7. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vivi and the gang (Minus Arthur, plus The Batter) get help from an old friend. At least, an old friend of the bluenette's. Nobody else is sure what to think of Mister Lejuge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the shortness of Arthur's last chapter! I felt it was best to keep it short so I could fit better detail and more story into his next one. You needn't fear, his next chapter will be good! 
> 
> On another note, this chapter has been righteously alternately titled 'Nine Shoves As Many References In This Chapter As They Can While Still Trying To Keep Things Serious'. You may be able to tell why that wouldn't work.

"So, Miss Vivian." A soft purr arose from behind a bookshelf. "What brings you and your delightful companions to my humble library today, hm?" A lanky figure with a wide grin and narrow eyes emerged, eyeing Vivi and the others with a mix of curiosity and glee.

 

"Mister Lejuge!" The bluenette exclaimed happily, rushing up to him. "I was hoping you'd be here! It's been a while since I last stopped by!"

 

"Well, I can tell how a life of vanquishing and evicting ectoplasmic spectres would lead to some slight schedule slips and modifications, yes? But I do agree, it's been far too long." The man, Mister Lejuge, grinned wider and glanced at Vivi's company. "I do not remember such a monochromatic figure from the last time I saw your group, my dear Miss Vivian." 

 

"Oh! That's the Batter," Vivi exclaimed, glancing back at the baseball player. The baseball player looked a bit distracted, reading the titles of some of the books of the countertop next to him. "He's part of the reason we came, actually."

 

"Oh?" Mister Lejuge inquired, his grin growing once more. "How peculiar. Would you care to elaborate?"

 

"Arthur and him switched places or something." Lewis cut in, floating a bit next to Vivi. The ghost had never liked the eccentric librarian. "We found a book that might talk about where he is. Your library deals mostly with spellbooks and other magical things, right?" Lejuge nodded. "Well, we were wondering if you could help us with finding a way to get Arthur back here and The Batter back to...wherever he came from." 

 

"Hmmm." The librarian purred, folding his hands together as he eyed the Batter. "Would you mind if I had a word with your friend?" He inquired.

 

Vivi nodded a bit as she shrugged, giving off an air of 'Sure!'. 

 

"Batter!" She yelled to get his attention. "Come over here, dude! One of my friends wants to chat with you!"

 

The Batter nodded in response as he curtly trodded over. He stood in front of the strange man in silence for a while before clenching his fists and tensing up almost as if he had been struck.

 

"Batter?" The bluenette pondered. "What's wrong?"

 

"Yes, Batter." Lejuge hissed his name softly. "I am Pablo Lejuge. I don't believe we've met before, at least not in this life." A snicker from the man, and silence from the Batter. 

 

"I..." 

 

"Batter?" Vivi frowned. "You know, it's typically considered polite to introduce yourself, dude." The girl was rather concerned for her new friend, she knew he was a quiet fellow but this just seemed....off. 

 

The baseball player said nothing. He simply reached out his hand, grabbed Lejuge's, and shook it briefly before walking away, looking down as if he were guilty.

 

"Batter-" Lewis frowned, stepping towards him before deciding against it.

 

"What an odd figure to enlist in your ethereal escapades," The librarian noted. "Where did you say he was from?"

 

"Some other dimension." Mystery piped up, causing Lejuge to take a step back before grinning more. The dog continued. "The Batter is from a different dimension, Mister Lejuge. Had an entire dramatic entrance into ours and everything."

 

"Oh, fascinating." The man rubbed his hands together. "That may explain his apparent lack of etiquette. This would mean Arthur's in the dimension the other came out of, yes?" 

 

"Yeah." Vivi looked down at her backpack, as she was quite busy pulling various items out of it.

 

"So where do you estimate Arthur's been transported to? Sunnydale? Hogsmeade? He could be anywhere for all we -"

 

Lewis held out the book he had earlier. "I think we already know where he is." The ghost explained. The other man smiled as he took the book and turned through the pages, stopping when Lewis told him.

 

"Oh, dear."

 

"What?"

 

"Well, I admit my Spanish is rusty but from what I'm seeing..."

 

"What is it, Lejuge?" Vivi was near frantic. The Batter was nowhere to be seen.

 

"May God have mercy on your Arthur's soul, Vivian."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos to whoever gets my references/knows who Lejuge is! ^v^ Leave comments and kudos, they're always appreciated and help me work on other chapters!


	8. Flesh Maze Tango

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur is in the mines. The mines are not very welcoming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY, AFTER SO LONG - I ARISE.

"H-Hello?" Arthur stammered, wandering blindly through the darkness. He kept to the side of the mines so he'd know where turns happened, the only dim light coming from Trib bouncing alongside him. "Is there anybody here?" 

 

Silence. Arthur didn't know what he'd expected. The Mechanic stumbled a bit, the weight of his robotic arm causing him to have an uneven gait as he walked.

 

"So, I was left to die by a masked maniac," He observed. "in a world that was destroyed by another maniac." Trib seemed to nod a bit. "And now I've got to fix this world, by fixing up lanterns that I probably won't be able to find, like, at all." She nodded again. "What if I -"

 

Suddenly everything was not very dark. 

 

A huge beast stood in front of Arthur, resembling some kind of huge withered baby doll. It looked down at Arthur, whos eyes were wide and frightened.

 

And it screamed. 

 

Arthur yelped and tried covering his ears - Pain shook through his body. He turned, wanting to flee, but felt himself stuck in place. The creature stopped, and looked at Arthur almost curiously, as if expecting him to make a move now.

 

"What's going on??" Arthur yelped, backing away from the creature now that he could move. He looked around, but saw only Trib and the monster. "What am I supposed to do??" 

 

Trib bounced, almost insistently. Arthur sensed that if his accomplice could talk she'd be cursing and telling him to move his ass, to attack. But Arthur didn't really feel like attacking this...thing. So he ran. He ran until the brightness that came with facing the bizarre baby doll monster shed away into the blackness of the mines, and the only light was from his bouncing friend. He took turns and tried to narrowly avoid any shape that moved in the dark. He ran 'til he was out of breath, nearly collapsing against the side of the mine walls.

 

"That was okay, _amigo_. Perhaps I should've tried to introduce you to the art of battling rather than having just thrown you into the fire." The Guide stepped out of the darkness into Arthur's limited and blurry view. 

 

"Guide," Arthur wheezed. "What was that??" 

 

"That was a Secretary, dear Mechanic." The Guide explained, placing a hand on Arthur's shoulder. Seeing it up close Arthur could see that The Guide's head and likely entire arm was covered with warts and wrinkles, like the flesh of a toad. Arthur pulled away from The Guide's touch. "They're the only creatures that can survive for long in these Purified Zones. The rest all died out immediately. I can't say I know why the Secretaries survive here, as they don't seem much different from the common spectres that used to roam." 

 

Arthur didn't much understand (as usual), but found he was still too panicked and out of breath to say anything.

 

"Perhaps they are the ghosts of the ghosts? The spectre's specters." The Guide chuckled to himself. "...Would you like me to teach you how to fight them, Mechanic? You'll be encountering many more on your way to fixing the lanterns." 

 

Arthur shakily shook his head.

 

"I-I don't really want to fight." He admitted. "And I especially don't want to fight those...Secretary things. I don't think I could if I tried." He looked up from the ground to face the shorter Guide, who was suddenly very close.

 

"Okay." The shorter figure quickly said, almost sounding relieved. "Then I will teach you how to run away." Arthur raised an eyebrow.

 

"Shouldn't running away be easy?" 

 

"No, not really. You need to do certain things to be able to flee. Technically, you're still in the battle." The Guide shrugged and Arthur tensed up as the sound of screaming erupted through the mines, not loud enough to cause pain but still loud enough to startle. 

 

If Arthur wasn't already scared he was terrified now. And when the faint sound of stomping in the background turned into a running sound that was getting progressively louder, Arthur found it was really a miracle he hadn't had a heart attack. He quickly grabbed the Guide's shoulder with his robotic arm.

 

"How do I run away??" He yelped, feeling tears prick his eyes as the pounding footsteps got louder and the sound of screaming filled the mines again - This time close enough to cause a sharp stinging in the back of Arthur's head. 

 

"You click 'Flee'." The Guide replied wittily before pushing Arthur's hand off his shoulder and backing away into the dark. Arthur's breath became quicker and more hushed as he felt the presence of something huge behind him. He turned to face the monster, his eyes hurting from the sudden brightness that came from re-entering the battle...

 

And he noticed the floating box in the corner of his line of sight. 

 

ATTACK  
COMPETENCE  
AUTO

  
FLEE


End file.
